Adjustable sweat-band backing.



J. J. MENDENHALL.

ADJUSTABLE SWEAT BAND BACKING.

APPLICATION FILED AUG. 16, 1916.

1,21 9,755. Patented Mar. 20, 1917.

JOHN J. MENDENHALL, OF GLEARWATER, FLORIDA.

ADJUSTABLE SWEAT-BAND BACKING.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Mar. 2t), 1917.

Application filed August 16, 1916. Serial No. 115,294.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, JOHN J. MENDEN- HALL, a citizen of the UnitedStates, and a resident of Clearwater, in the county of Pinellas andState of Florida, have invented a certain new and useful'lmprovement inAdjustable S\V6LtBRI1Cl Backings, of which the following is aspecification.

My present invention relates to adjustable sweat band backings for usein connection with head coverings, such as hats, caps, helmets, etc.

The principal object of my inventlon is to provide devices of thecharacter described which will effectively prevent baldness, whichusually results from compressing the blood vessels, by use of the hat,and starving the roots of the hair. This I accomplish by bringingpressure upon the heads of the wearers only at those portions remotefrom the arteries, veins, and the lymphatics, which supply and nourishthe hair, sufficient to retain the head covering against casualdisplacement.

Other objects of my invention are to provide devices of the characterdescribed which are simple in construction and inexpensive tomanufacture; capable of adjustment to the requirements of the individualwearing them; and, devices which are compact and which do not render thehead covering cumbersome because of the use of accessories of thischaracter.

Further objects of my invention will appear in the following detaileddescription, taken in connection with the accompanying drawing, forminga part of this specification, and in which drawing Figure 1' is acentral longitudinal sectional view through a head covering equippedwith a device constructed according to my invention, the head coveringbeing shown in engagement with the head of an individual.

Fig. 2 is a perspective view of a device constructed according to myinvention.

Fig. 3 is a central longitudinal sectional view, on an enlarged scale,through a shaper and its carrier, forming a part of the device.

The main vessels carrying nourishment to the roots of the hair on top ofthe head and carrying waste matter away are in front of the ears. asindicated by the black square 4; in Fig. 1 of the drawing, on the underside of the skin, and are easily compressed between the skin and thebony structure of the skull. Two other groups of vessels are in theforehead, on either side of the median line, as indicated at 5 by theblack square, these vessels supplying the hair above the forehead. Twoother groups supply the back part of the head, and are on each side ofthe median line as indicated at 6, by black square in Fig- 1. Theordinary hat affects the growth of hair by compressing the arteries, theveins, the lymphatics, and to some extent the nerves that supply andnourish the hair, the sweat band compressing the vessels and starvingthe roots of the hair.

In the drawing, where like characters desi gnate like parts, Adesignates a head covering, such as a hat, including a crown B and asweat band C; and D. backing device for sweat band C including aflexible band or carrier E, and shapers F adjustably carried by band E.

While I have herein shown the invention as applied to a hat, it is to beunderstood that it is applicable to all types of head coverings whichare retained against casual displacement by bringing pressure upon thehead atthe sweat band.

Referring first to the flexible carrier or band E, it may be made of anysuitable material, preferably relatively light silk ribbon, which isdurable and may be doubled up, if desired, with several plies upon eachother in juxtaposed relation so that the band, when made endless, may beof maximum size and when applied to the smaller size head coverings, theband may be doubled up to fit nicely between the sweat band C and crownB.

As to the shapers F, they are preferably made of strips of inherentlystiff material,

, suchas aluminum, which is bendable, and

each shaper is primarily arcuated longitudinally so as to conform to thecurvature of the crown B. As suitable means for adjust ably supportingsaid shapers from the carrier E, each shaper may be provided with aplurality of transverse slots, preferably two adjacent the end portions,the flexible carrier E being trained through the first slot adjacent oneend and from one face of the shaper, to the other face, then trainedthrough the next adjacent transverse slot to the convex face of theshaper and thereafter trained through the slots of the other end of theshaper in a similar manner, as

is clearly shown in Figs. 2 and 3 of the drawing.

t is preferred, in the manufacture of the shapers to stamp the same fromsheet metal, such as aluminum so that the walls of the slots 7 are atright angles to the plane of the shaper as clearly shown in Fig. 3 ofthe drawing, presenting rather sharp edges 8 about which the flexiblecarrier 1) is trained. This formation is not only inexpensive tomanufacture, but prevents casual displacement of the shapers withrespect to the flexible carrier, once they have been positionedaccording to the requirement of the individual using the device.

The operation of the device is as follows:

No two heads are shaped exactly alike. Some heads bulge out in front ofthe ears where the head covering, as is now in common use, frequentlycuts off the supply of nourishment to the roots of the hair. Someforeheads are full in the median line and rounded toward the sides,which permits pressure on the frontal vessels and starves out the hairon the front of the head, since the sweat band tightly engages the headat approximately the points indicated by character 5. Other heads arelacking in a protuberance on the back of the head so that the headcovering fits tightly at the points marked by character 6, resulting inbaldness that is low in the back of the head. If the head is free fromcorners and protuberances and is so round that the head covering fitstightly all around the head, baldness is most complete. When bringing adevice constructed according to my invention into use, the shapers F areadjusted so that they engage the head remote from the arteries, veins,lymphatics, etc., which supply and nourish the hair.

Baldness usually begins at the summit of the crown, of the head towardthe back part, at the distant and weakest part of the vessels furnishingthe circulation. In such cases, the pressure has been 011 the vessels onthe side of the head, which are perhaps the most important, and anindividual can quickly determine where the shapers should be placed inorder to bring sufficient pressure upon the head to maintain the headcovering against casual displacement, yet avoid pressure upon theimportant arteries, veins, etc.

Changes in details may be made without departing from the spirit orscope of my invention; but,

I claim 2-- 1. A sweat band backing comprising in combination, a band offlexible material, and a plurality of shapers of inherently stiffmaterial permanently mounted on and adjustable longitudinally of saidband.

2. A sweat band backing comprising in combination, a band of flexiblematerial, and a plurality of arcuate strips of inherently stiff materialslidably mounted on and adjustable longitudinally of said band.

3. A sweat band backing comprising in combination, a band of flexiblematerial adapted to be inserted between the crown and the sweatband of ahat, and a plurality of arcuate strips of inherently stiff bend ablematerial adjustable longitudinally of said band.

4t. A sweat band backing comprising in combination, a-band of flexiblematerial, and a plurality of arcuate strips of inher' ently stifl"material provided with transverse slots through which said flexible bandis trained.

5. A head spacing attachment for bats comprising the following elementsin combination and permanently connected together to provide a unitarydevice; namely, an endless band adapted for insertion between the crownand the sweatband of a hat, and a plurality of relatively stiff bendablestrips slidably mounted on the band and adapted for adjustment intovarious positions upon the hat and to be bent to conform to thecurvature of the diiferent parts of the head, said band being adapted tofrictionally hold said strips in adjusted position.

JOHN J. MENDENHALL.

Gopis of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. U.

